The Potential Slayers were settling in without too much difficulty at the Summers' residence. Willow hurried about nervously, consulting with Kennedy for advice on the sleeping arrangements.
Hel hopped in the shower to rinse off and wash her hair, basking in the hot steam for longer than necessary. Once out, she quickly dried herself off. She then donned a black bralette, yanked on a pair of vertically pinstriped, black and dark grey skinny jeans, and slipped her arms into an oversized, soft grey cardigan with a deep V-neck.
Upon returning downstairs, she asked to borrow Willow's laptop for a moment. Hel set to work perusing the Internet, combing website after website for any useful data on the First.
Her determined pursuit for information continued into the early hours of the morning. She began to experience difficulty keeping her eyes open, her mind clouding over. Her shoulders were sagging under the sheer weight of exhaustion.
All of a sudden, a pinprick of light appeared at the end of the vast, dark tunnel.
She jolted upright, eyes widening as they skimmed along the lines of typewritten text. Her lips spread into a triumphant smile. At long last, useful information had been uncovered, information that could be catastrophic to the First's plan.
Without warning, the laptop screen blacked out.
The First, under the guise of Spike, manifested before her. The counterfeit was flawless, from his black leather duster to the toes of his sturdy combat boots. "Curiosity killed the cat, luv. If I were you, I'd stop prying before someone gets hurt."
Hel strode abruptly.
"Take this as a friendly warning, my dear." The First began, monotone. "Back off."
A smug smile curved her lips. "I will end you."
"No you won't." The unnerving, stone-cold eyes of the First never once blinked or strayed from her as a sly smile crept across its lips. "No one ever gets to me. And no one ever will."
"I did."
"You've come the closest. Now you're in my way."
"Thank you." Came her witty response.
"I didn't mean it as a compliment."
"Yes, you did."
"Okay, yeah, I did." The First admitted, shrugging.
She smirked proudly.
"Well, I'd better be off." The First glanced around the living room with disinterest. "It was so nice to have had a proper chat." Its focus returning to her, the First smiled. "Chow."
The incorporeal entity vanished into thin air, leaving behind a chilling silence in its wake.
Sighing, Hel shut the lid of the laptop in defeat. She turned and headed upstairs, into Buffy's vacant bedroom. She made herself comfortable, tucked under the eiderdown duvet of the queen-sized bed. Her eyes slipping shut, she attempted to clear her mind and relax her anxious body.
Hel laid there for hours, tossing and turning. She was too restless to fall asleep. Her mind was otherwise engaged, mulling over a plethora of unpleasant scenarios.
When she could take it no longer, she hauled herself out of bed and meandered downstairs.
The kitchen was packed. The three Potentials were eating breakfast, and Buffy and Giles stood by the back door. Buffy looked a little shaken up, her clothes dusted with dirt and face sporting evidence of violence.
"Uh, what you fought was a vampire, but it was, um, something more than that." Giles began. "It was a Turok-Han. As Neanderthals are to human beings, the Turok-Han are to vampires. Primordial, ferociously-powerful killing machines, as single-minded as animals. They are the vampires that vampires fear. An ancient and entirely different race, and, until this morning, I thought they were a myth."
"So, the First shows up, and now this?" Buffy replied. "You think it's a coincidence?"
"I think it's more likely that the Turok-Han is here as an agent of the First."
"Um, did you slay it?" Inquired Annabelle nervously.
"No, it's still out there, somewhere." Buffy answered her.
"What's it want?" Asked another Potential, a young woman by the name of Molly.
"All of us dead." Buffy stated bluntly. "But for now it looks like sunlight is keeping this Uber Vamp away."
"So, until sunset, I suggest you get some rest." Giles advised. "A few hours sleep will do a world of difference."
"No sleep today. Can't."
"Oh, come on, you're exhausted."
"Ah, it comes with the gig." Buffy replied dismissively. "Somehow I don't think taking on prehistoric evil comes with nap time. Sorry, Potential guys. I know you came a long way, and you wanna get into it, but the best thing you can do right now is just sit tight, wait it out. I'm gonna go to work, see what I can find out. I'll be back before sunset."
"How do you plan to research something as ill-defined as 'The First'?"
"I have the best plan ever."
Meanwhile, deep below Sunnydale in underground caverns, Spike was being held captive. Propped up against a large boulder, beaten and haggard, he laid motionless. One of his eyes was swollen shut.
The First, disguised as his vampire ex-lover Drusilla, stood in front of him. "Think of it as a game." She spoke in her eerie, unhinged singsong voice. "A fun, funny game. Without all the rules, or any of the bothersome winning part. But still, there are sides. You have to choose a side, Spike. Then we can fly— be free and visit all our friends as they come squirming up from out the earth."
She began to slowly dance on the spot, swaying her hips from side to side and raising her arms above her head. "I know you like a good wriggle, and a giggle, and a squiggle."
"You're not Drusilla." He rasped.
"No, I'm really not." She giggled.
"She was crazier than you."
She cupped her hand over her ears. "Ooh, daddy. No kicking. It's almost Christmas Day today and you've gone spoiling it. I've been so very good all year." Leaning forward, the First growled playfully in his face. "But I could be bad if you like."
He turned his face away from her, but the Turok-Han standing nearby lunged forth and struck him in the head.
"Bad daddy." Chided the First. "Needs a caning. Never learned his headmaster's lesson while all the school bells ring." She mimed ringing a bell. "And ring and ring and ring and ring..." She bent down at the waist to whisper in his ear. "Choose a side. Choose our side. You know that it's delicious." She feigned licking his cheek, her tongue lapping at the air mere millimetres from his skin. "What do you say?"
"Dru, luv..." Spike murmured.
"Hmm?"
"Get bent."
The First straightened, pouting petulantly. "Stupid, stubborn daddy." Laying her hands over her heart, she strolled off.
Turok-Han took her cue, moving in for the kill, and resumed pummelling Spike without mercy.
"Ringing, ringing, ringing..." The First mumbled, regarding them from a short distance as she languidly swung her hips back and forth.